


One Thing Every Day

by veggiesamosa



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 02:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17778773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veggiesamosa/pseuds/veggiesamosa
Summary: Haknyeon gets hiccups at the worst times but Sangyeon might just have them worse.





	One Thing Every Day

**Author's Note:**

> happy valentines day!!!!

The first time it happens Haknyeon doesn't think much of it. It's just a stutter of a breath and a squeak and he probably ate too fast and that's why he's hiccupping now. 

Sangyeon laughs. “I hope you hiccup again. You sound so cute.”

Haknyeon does hiccup again but he doesn't feel very cute as he squeaks through the haze of flush that has risen over his face. Sangyeon smiles at Haknyeon before turning back to Jacob to hear what else the elderly people did at the care home he plays guitar at on Thursdays. 

Haknyeon blows bubbles into his drink and hopes he doesn't have to endure any more meaningful glares from Changmin while they sit around catching up. 

Haknyeon and Sangyeon go home the same way. It is lucky, Haknyeon thinks, that they can spend a little bit more time together where there is no reason to feel self conscious. When they're alone there is no need to worry about however many of their friends are funnier and more interesting than Haknyeon. 

Haknyeon's stomach rumbles and he says he'll have to stop on the way home to get something to eat. 

Sangyeon hiccups. There is something bashful about his smile as he scratches at the back of his neck and says, “Do you --HIC-- mind i-HIC-if i come with you too? HIC! I am --HIC-- a bit peck-HIC-peckish --HIC-- myself.”

Haknyeon tries to be casual and doesn't want to agree too it too quickly, otherwise he'll look desperate. Which he is but Sangyeon doesn't need to know that. He ponders over it whilst he gives Sangyeon the extensive list of food establishments from here to home before telling Sangyeon that he can choose. Haknyeon isn't sure whether Sangyeon hears the entire list because he is hiccupping all along but he answers anyway and he makes a good enough choice. 

Sangyeon lets Haknyeon share some of his food but even whilst they're sitting down to eat he's hiccupping midbite. 

“You need to be more careful,” Haknyeon chides as he passes over his lemonade. “I am not very good at first aid so you'd probably die if you ended up choking because of your hiccups.”

“HIC! So you woul-HIC-dn’t even try? Or at least ask one of the workers to help? Or call an ambulance?”

Haknyeon hiccups but pretends it away with his agitation as he says, “I would do all of that! But I just don't want you to keep recklessly shoving food in your gob when it could go down the wrong way!”

“You-HIC- should be careful too. I-HIC-it looks like you've caught them off me,” Sangyeon smiles. 

“That's impossible,” Haknyeon says while hoping a fuller mouth will disguise another hiccup. “Besides, if that's true you must have caught them off me first!”

Sangyeon hiccups again and his face turns warm as he looks away and says, “I did.”

 

It becomes a regular thing. The hiccups and the two of them spending more time together instead of going straight home after meeting their friends. 

Haknyeon makes no secret about the fact that he is pleased, though he is incredibly secretive about the fact that he mentally refers to the time as dates. After all, he wants Sangyeon to notice him and be happy to see him when they're with the rest of their friends. But it is difficult considering they have so many noisy friends. 

“Once,” Eric says like he is about to impart information of the highest importance, “I heard there was this girl who had the hiccups for nine years. And then she died.”

Haknyeon hiccups warily. 

“Are you saying Haknyeon is going to die?” Sangyeon asks. There seems to be something pointed about the fact that Sangyeon leaves himself out of that fate and doesn't mention how much he hiccups himself. 

“I don't mean it like that,” Eric says. 

“That's not true anyway. You can't die from hiccupping,” Hyunjun frowns. 

“You can so! It happened to that girl!” Eric's defence does nothing to make Haknyeon feel any better about the fact a single glance from Sangyeon triggers a hiccup. Extended scrutiny isn't any kinder on Haknyeon's lungs. “Ask anyone and they'll tell you it happened!”

Hyunjun needn't ask anyone because Jaehyun is more than happy to vouch for the fact. “It did happen and Eric knows because he was that girl who died from the hiccups.”

“Why did you have to go and say that? He's going to have nightmares now,” Sunwoo grumbles. 

Jaehyun smirks and a particularly large hiccup prevents Haknyeon from alerting Sunwoo to his mistake. It is already too late and Jaehyun asks, “What do you care whether Eric has nightmares?”

“He'll keep calling me until I wake up so he can tell me about it,” Sunwoo shrugs. Almost as though it's no big deal. But it seems like Eric thinks it is. 

“Do you want me to stop calling you?”

“I just don't want you to have nightmares.”

It's all very sweet but Sunwoo isn't so kind as to assure Haknyeon that he doesn't want him to have nightmares. It isn't until the group decides they need to move on to doing other things that Haknyeon has no choice but to concentrate on the possibility of nightmares. 

“Are you al-HIC-right?” Sangyeon asks. 

“I'm just hungry or something,” Haknyeon shrugs. Sangyeon keeps watching Haknyeon until they both hiccup one after the other. They laugh. And then Haknyeon thinks maybe he'd be fine with a friend to fend away scary dreams. “Are you busy tonight?”

“What do --HIC-- you mean tonight?”

“We could have a sleepover,” Haknyeon suggests. Immediately he can see that Sangyeon isn't a fan of this proposal. “It was just a silly idea.”

“HIC! You-HIC- want to h-HIC-ave a sleep-HIC-over? HIC!” 

Haknyeon hadn't thought he could make Sangyeon’s hiccup worse like this. A smallest hiccup pinches in his own chest. He's slept at friends’ houses before and had others sleep at his house and he is sure Sangyeon has been both host and guest too. So he must just not want to sleep at Haknyeon's. 

Lately they had become a bit closer and spent more time talking whilst we even planning where they'd go alone after meeting various configurations of their friendship group. Haknyeon really must stop calling these dates if Sangyeon is going to be like this. 

“Sorry. Never mind.”

Sangyeon’s next hiccup is tremendous. Several people twist in their seats to see what all the noise is about as he hiccups his way into the restaurant they decided upon wordless consensus. “You change-HIC-d your --HIC-- mind that --HIC-- qui-HIC-ckly?”

Haknyeon hiccups, perplexed, as he sits down. “I just thought you might not want to. It's not like I'm worried about dying of the hi-HIC-ccups or anything.”

A kind waitress quickly brings over glasses and a jug of water and both Sangyeon and Haknyeon reach for it at once. 

“You-HIC- go fi-HIC-rst,” Sangyeon offers. 

Haknyeon sighs and grabs the jug. He pours Sangyeon a glass of water first. He's glad Sangyeon doesn't make a fuss over it and instead gulps down as much water as he can without choking or spilling any. Haknyeon reasons his own hiccups are a much milder case and he needn't risk dying even sooner than the nine years Eric had prophesied. 

Unfortunately, Sangyeon’s attempts to end his hiccups isn't enough of a distraction to forget Haknyeon's (hastily revoked) invitation. 

“I am HIC-a-HIC bit lost. HIC! Do you want-HIC me to come to your --HIC-- place or not?”

Haknyeon flounders with his drink and realises he is thinking up too many strange things. “Um. Maybe not today. But next time?” Haknyeon hopes the suggestion is casual enough that he can trick himself into not thinking strange things when he is next alone with Sangyeon. 

 

Next time ends up not being next time at all and Haknyeon hiccups his way through enough get togethers that he has become accustomed to the spasms in the rhythm of his breath. Sunwoo even accuses him of cheating by faking his hiccups to lull him into a false sense of security when playing computer games. But unfortunately for Haknyeon his hiccups are real and Sangyeon starts hiccupping too. 

They play with their friends and even if they eat with everyone else they eat together and hiccup and awkwardly say goodbye and see each other again. It becomes a routine and Haknyeon grows used to his breathing difficulties when in the group. Sangyeon would be talking and laughing and Changmin would be kicking Haknyeon under the table or pointing really obviously as though he wants Haknyeon to get caught. Once or twice Sangyeon does see Changmin’s significant glaring and he even asks Haknyeon about it afterwards. 

“Does --HIC-- Changmin kno-HIC-w about our secret da-HIC-- meals?” Sangyeon glances up from his menu and ruins the uninhibited tone of the question by looking incredibly worried about the answer. 

“He doesn’t know,” Haknyeon says quickly. 

“Oh-HIC! Then why --HIC-- does he keep whi-HIC-spering to you like -HIC- that?” Sangyeon asks. “Do-HIC- you --HIC-- go out with hi-HIC-m too? I mean-HIC- for… HIC! For food.”

It is an interesting idea. Haknyeon thinks he should probably try out extending hang-outs with friends just for the fun of eating. But that would be quite different because it wouldn’t be with Sangyeon and Haknyeon quite likes things as they are. 

“It’s just you,” Haknyeon says. There is something embarrassing about saying it though. The words are too heavy and even when Haknyeon is rid of them they leave enough of a shadow that presses down on his shoulders. 

“Just --HIC-- me?” Sangyeon asks. It really is just Sangyeon so Haknyeon nods. 

 

Haknyeon forgets exactly how long he has been plagued by the intermittent hiccups and he forgets whether Sangyeon had suffered from them for just as long. It is easy to miss them when they're startled right out of him. 

Jacob invites everyone to see him play when he graduates from coffeeshops and day centres to play in the support slot of an actual concert. It is just him onstage with his electro-acoustic guitar across his lap and he looks effortlessly cool as he adjusts the mic stand so he can sing while perching on a barstool. 

Before Jacob's set officially starts Haknyeon isn't very happy to see the sparse audience. Not many people arrived early enough to see the first support act but everyone who bought tickets should have turned up in time to see Jacob play, not just their extended group of friends (for whom Jacob was able to blag heavily discounted tickets). When Haknyeon voices his distaste Kevin pats him on the back and tells him to cheer louder to make up for everyone else. 

Haknyeon does cheer loudly as the music playing over the PA system cuts out and the house lights dim and Jacob starts to play. 

For fourteen minutes Jacob is a superstar. The spotlight is on him and he chats contently with the crowd as though he doesn't really mind he is mostly among friends. He only plays one cover in the middle of his set but of course his friends have heard the songs in various forms enough times to sing and cheer along in all the right places. 

By the fifteenth minute Jacob is introducing his last song. He says, “This last one's a new song. I asked a friend to help me out with this song and he probably thinks it is about another good friend of ours. In fact it is about both of them. They're funny to watch.”

That is about the time Sangyeon squeezes through the cluster of a crowd and pulls Haknyeon closer by his arm. “Hey,” he says, leaning as close as can be so Haknyeon can feel the breath of the words (and a near silent hiccup) against his ear when Jacob fingerpicks his way through the first chord. “I'm heading over to the bar to get drinks for everyone. Can you come and help me carry them?”

“Isn't the bar out in the corridor?” Haknyeon asks. “We'll miss Jacob's last song. Shouldn't we go after he's done?”

When Haknyeon leans away he can't quite understand why Sangyeon would look do disappointed. Whether he's unhappy or not he remains by Haknyeon's side while Jacob moves onto strumming the chords in his cheery progression. 

The lyrics are tentatively conversational, as though Jacob is confiding in a friend. Though he had said this song was about a friend and Haknyeon spends longer than he'd like trying to nudge his brain into working out who it could be about. He's about to give up when a more physical nudge against his side alerts him to another of Sangyeon’s hiccups. 

Haknyeon turns to ask who he thinks the song is about but he stops when he sees the expression on Sangyeon’s face. There's no need for him to look so astonished even if a song like this, of uncertain and delicate feelings, is really about someone close to them. On the other hand Haknyeon is extremely dumbfounded at the cautious way Sangyeon is regarding him. Haknyeon changes his question. 

“Are you alright?”

Sangyeon barely manages a nod and a feeble hiccup in reply and the song is over. Jacob thanks the crowd, tells them they were a great audience, suggests they take a chance and do something that scares them because it is good to keep hearts healthy. 

An instant later, Haknyeon's heart feels incredibly healthy. It is strange to think this when he also feels like his heart will also give up on him and explode. But he managed to tell Sangyeon that he likes him. That must be scary enough to keep his heart healthy. 

“Oh,” Sangyeon says. It isn't quite the response Haknyeon wants or expects. He doesn't get the chance to pretend not to sulk because this time Sangyeon is more insistent on getting Haknyeon to leave the main hall with him. 

Somehow Haknyeon's ears are ringing and the sounds of people getting checked before they enter the venue is a distant buzz despite it occurring only metres away. The doors to the concert hall open and close periodically and the music playing over the PA system blares and mutes with each new person finding a place to stand near the stage. 

Sangyeon still hasn't said anything. Haknyeon doesn't particularly want to repeat what he said because Jacob never specified the ideal amount of scary activities and one feels like more than enough. 

“Are we going to get everyone's drinks now?” Haknyeon asks. 

Sangyeon shakes his head. “My hiccups are gone.”

“Oh. Good. Eric will be happy to know you won't have hiccupped yourself to death in nine years.”

“Your hiccups are gone too,” Sangyeon points out with a grin. Knowing that hiccupping himself to death is much less likely very quickly improved his countenance and Haknyeon wonders how a person can smile like that after ignoring someone's feelings. 

“Yeah.”

“Did you like Jacob's new song?”

Haknyeon only feels worse that Sangyeon is changing the subject like this when the decent thing to do would be to let him down gently before doing so. He shrugs. “Of course I did. But I like all of Jacob's songs.”

“And what did you think of it?”

“You just asked me if I liked it and I do.”

“No, I mean was it that obvious that I like you too?”

Haknyeon feels crossness bleeding out of him but he isn't quite sure what is filling in the cavity of confusion. “What?”

“Jacob said he wanted my help to write a love song. And then apparently used everything I said against me to write a song about how hopelessly in love with you I am.” There's a bitter note but Sangyeon is still smiling through the words. And even though the hiccups are gone, Haknyeon thinks doing one more thing that scares him won't be so bad. 

“Oh, did I miss it?” Jacob asks, his voice jarring off-key gentleness that makes Haknyeon drop back onto his heels after attempting to launch himself at Sangyeon fast enough that he wouldn't be able to chicken out of kissing him on the cheek. He must not have had enough velocity but he tries not to look so glum about that when he should be congratulating Jacob on a set well done. 

“Did you miss what?” Sangyeon asks at Jacob's approach between the people filing past the merch stand and into the auditorium. It is a bit strange now seeing so many people who missed Jacob's set not realise the talent they're in the way of. 

Jacob claps a hand on both of their shoulders. “Did I miss you two getting together? Was I a good cupid?”

Haknyeon isn't sure on that one. Jacob almost succeeded seeing as Haknyeon was about to risk it all but he then went and interrupted what could have been a very sweet moment. But there's more than one way to risk it all. His voice is tight and it is harder to get his words out like this than when he was constantly hiccupping but he says, “Yes. Sangyeon and I are together now.”

“We are?”

“You said you like me.”

“Good, that's great!” Jacob says before Haknyeon can muddle his way through backtracking. “Now I made a reservation at this really nice restaurant for you so you should hurry to get there before you miss it.”

Sangyeon looks half disbelieving as he glances up from Jacob's phone. “Do you want to try it?”

Haknyeon no longer has the hiccups but he should do one last thing that scares him just in case. He grabs Sangyeon’s hand and thanks Jacob before pushing against the flow of people into the venue and running to the corner of the next street where trying to be a little bold won't be interrupted. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> maybe the whole point of writing this was for Eric's fun fact of the day (which is obviously not a fact at all - and the world record for hiccups is far longer than nine years haha)


End file.
